The Making of a May Day BBQ

6:21am Julie there is no coffee in the house.

6:25am She pulls out the pork butt, and seasons it with a mix of spices from her cupboard, then puts it back in the fridge.

6:35am Julie realizes speaking of herself in third person all day could get really annoying.

I head out for coffee. I am thankful to live in a city, in a neighborhood, where I can walk to a coffee shop. The morning is beautiful! Birds are singing, the sun is shining.

It's a good day for a barbecue!

May Day Virtual Barbecue (and giveaway)!

It's spring and you, yes you, are invited to a virtual barbecue. Since May Day is a holiday that celebrates spring, fertility, and other outdoor activities, I thought we could all honor this fest with some outdoor cooking. (Though please, for safety and for the sake of being neighborly, please don't grill naked). Come join the party this Sunday, May Day, share what you are cooking, and maybe even win a book.

This isn't my first virtual barbecue here at She-Smoke headquarters. Before the book launched, I held a contest for folks to upload videos to YouTube for a video virtual barbecue. The entries I did get were amazing, like this one from my kinfolk, however I learned an important lesson about contests and events: make them really really easy to enter.

To join in the virtual potluck, simply post a comment here about what's on your barbecue on May Day, or comment and/or upload a photo on the She-Smoke facebook page. I'll pick three favorites (or maybe we'll figure out a way to vote on facebook) and give away three copies of my book.

Easy. Fun. Invite all your friends, especially those far far away so that you can be with them, virtually, at a barbecue.
An little end note for research junkies like me: The archives from the University of Missouri explain how May Day began, in case you aren't familiar with this somewhat forgotten holiday. The website includes some wonderful pictures of ladies dressed in white, dancing around the maypole.

Spring Baby Backs Part 2 (repost)

I changed the title from "Spring is time for Baby backs" to "Spring Baby Backs" because really, any time is time for baby back ribs. Here is the continuation of the recipe. In case you missed it, see Part 1 for Uncle Jack's Clean Out The Fridge Barbecue Sauce.

On one of the recent schizophrenic spring days here in the Northwest (it's been alternating between sun and snow or sleet), I fired up the Weber after a 3-month hiatus. A hiatus filled with spit up, 1am, 3am and 5am feedings, and the daily challenge of figuring out how to do anything with two kids. Ive become a pack-mule and have had to learn to slow down to a zen-like speed that would annoy an overfed turtle. Some days, by the time I get the baby fed, all of us dressed, and the bag packed, the "window" of getting out slams shut and it's time for another round of diapers, naps, lunch and meltdowns. Why am I going on and on about this? Because standing at the grill on a beautiful sunny day with nothing but a pair of tongs in my hand made me feel so light and giddy, I thought I might just fly away with the clouds.

Ribs mopped with a bourbon barbecue sauce aren't always associated with the words "light" and "airy" but I'm calling these "Float on a Cloud Baby backs" all the same. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
Uncle Jack's Clean Out The Fridge Barbecue Sauce (part 1)

Apple juice (in spray bottle if you have it)

Modified Feisty Girl Rub - this rub is in my book, but I've added a little more sugar. Any spicy brown sugar rub will do. Quantity is per rack.

6 Tbls. brown sugar
2 Tbls. sea salt or kosher salt
1 Tbls. fresh ground pepper
2 tsp dried mustard
1 Tbls. paprika
1 Tbls. Cajun seasoning mix
A few dashes of cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger

1-2 racks baby back ribs (membrane removed)

Step by Step
1. Pat rub all over ribs 1 hour to a day ahead.

2. Make your fire for Slow and Low and "Get Your Smoke On". In other words - light a quarter to a half chimney (about 20 coals) and dump, when coals are turning ash gray, into a tight pile on one side in your charcoal grill. Add a chunk of wood or a 1/2 cup of wood chips and close the lid. After 10-15 minutes, place ribs on indirect heat side of grill.

3. Target inside grill temperature is 200-250 degrees. Note how I've put a remote thermometer through a potato so that it doesn't sit directly on the grill.


3. Close lid and leave it. After 30 minutes light a new batch of charcoal in your chimney starter or a second grill. Feed already-hot coals to your pile 45 minutes to an hour into cooking. Add wood as necessary for the first 3 hours.

4. After one hour and every 45 minutes to an hour thereafter, spray mop your ribs with the apple juice. Keep that lid closed as much as possible to maintain your heat and smoke!

5. Ribs will take 4-5 hours. Brush racks with barbecue sauce in the final 20-30 minutes.

6. Remember, "falling off the bone" is a misnomer. You want to be able to bite the meat without losing half of it on your shirt.

Feel free to ask any questions or comment on the recipe!
Originally posted on 04/18/2009

Spring is time for babybacks: Part 1

I'm reposting a few of my favorite blogs and recipes from the past two years. In part because I have a lot more readers now than when I first started this blog, and it's new to many, and also to give me a little break from the blog this spring. Without further ado, from April of 2009.....


The first sunny day this past week I uncovered the Weber and stoked up the coals. I usually don't let inclement weather stop me, but this winter I also had a newborn to care for. I was lucky to get a frozen pizza pocket cooked in the microwave. It felt good to stretch my smokin' muscles after a three-month hiatus.

I also needed to clean out the fridge. (I'd clearly taken a three-month hiatus from it as well.) So I first made my Uncle Jack's Clean Out The Fridge Barbecue Sauce. My Uncle Jack loves to eat and he loves to make a deal. Making a tasty sauce out of items on the brink of the garbage bin tickles him pink. He'll tell you his recipe is a secret. What he means is you-don't-wanna-know what's in it. I once watched him unload the contents of my Aunt Sandra's fridge into the sauce pot - a fridge that was always chock full and contained a number of the world's greatest mysteries inside. What he did admit to me is that as long as certain ingredients were included in the recipe, the rest was mere nuance.

My sauce didn't have anything too scary. I included the certain ingredients: ketchup, mustard, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and salt, then added the bits and ends in my fridge to make the sauce. I had some bourbon, old ginger, and the end of a bottle of maple syrup to throw in. It made a rich, dark sauce. Here is a picture of my ingredients:

Here is my recipe. Remember - barbecue sauce is one of the easiest sauces to make. You can use my ratios of the base ingredients and clean out your own fridge. After that you can fire up the grill to make some baby back ribs (Part 2).

RECIPE: (Ode to) Uncle Jack's Clean Out The Fridge Barbecue Sauce

2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 1/2 cups ketchup
2 Tbls. spicy brown mustard
3 Tbls. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
End of a bottle of maple syrup with 1/2 cup hot water to swish it all out
2 Tbls. bourbon
1 Tbls. molasses
1 tsp. finely grated ginger (can use powdered ginger too as shown)
1 tsp. salt

Saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat, stirring. Just as it begins to brown, add ketchup. Add remaining ingredients and reduce to low. Simmer sauce for about 45 minutes before serving or before cooling to bottle for the refrigerator.

Kicking Out Winter with Darth Maul Dip

The sunshine this week absolutely saved me. I don't know about you, but this winter was a hard one for me. Not only did it seem colder, wetter, and darker than usual, we were plagued with illnesses. It's common when you are the parent of a preschooler. They are petri dishes for all the funk passed on by their little friends at the playdough table. This week, playing outside, feeling warmth on our faces, made me realize how long we've been couped up.

It's why I've posted so little. No one wants to hear about hacking coughs or bedside buckets on a food blog, right?

But last week, the last week of winter and our last illness, is a tale I must share. It was Winter's last hurrah before Spring kicked it out for good.

One night, my son would NOT go to bed. He insisted on reading his "recipe book", a Star Wars cookbook someone gave us a year or two ago. After previously barely noticing the book, he became a fanatic, pouring over the photos and recipes like, "Amidala Challah", "Darth Malt", and "Opee Sea Crunch." Desperate, I promised him we'd make "lots" of the recipes the next day. At last he dropped off to sleep, still clutching his new found religion.

That night both El and Eric came down with the flu. I was up most the night with baby girl and dog tired in the morning. My son started right in at breakfast, making me read all the recipes that he wanted to create. Right now! I told him we didn't have the ingredients and he had school...so I managed to stall the Star Wars recipe fest.

After school he was adamant, and I knew a huge tantrum was brewing if we didn't to get to the store. El was perky as if the previous night didn't happen, but Eric was still in bad shape. He needed to sleep and a trip to the grocery store with a long cooking project was the perfect distraction from dad in the bed.

It wasn't entirely out of the good of my heart. I'd felt the rumblings in my own tummy and knew it was only a matter of time before I'd need Eric to return the nap favor.

We made our list. At the top of son's wishes was making the Darth Maul Dip. It was a simple roasted pepper dip, but the cookbook came with a stencil template to make the mask with poppy seeds. Totally cool.

I recall the first wave of nausea hit me as I wrote the check at the grocery store, thinking 50 bucks was an expensive distraction. By the time we returned home, I needed to lay on the couch, "just for a little bit". My son had waited all day and this was too much for his 5 year old psyche.

I dragged myself up and began laying out the ingredients. Opening the jar of roasted peppers made me nearly lose it. I wavered, grabbed the counter, and slowly breathed through my nose. Then I reached for the cream cheese. That was it. I bolted to the bathroom. Thankfully, at that moment, Eric rallied out of bed and finished the dip with our kids.

I was able to take a photo, but we now had a vat of dip, and no one at the party, save our son, interested in eating anything. It didn't matter. My son's sole purpose of the day was relieved. His Star Wars itch was scratched. He had made Darth Maul Dip!

Thankfully, it was only a 2 day flu. My son never got it, and he was the only one to taste the dip. Makes you think. We went on to make the Opee Sea Crunch, the Boonta Breakfast Tarts, and the Darth Malt. We already had the toy in the picture from our favorite toy store - Goodwill. None of them were great recipes from a professional standpoint, but they all put a smile on my kids' faces.

Now that spring is here, we'll have to do a grilled version of the Darth Maul Double Dogs. If you are interested, here is the book image. I have a feeling we'll have to find the first one.

Poetry Friday: Shel Silverstein's "Merry"

I ran across this poem today while reading to my daughter. I tend to skip around while reading my favorite Shel Silverstein book, Where The Sidewalk Ends, so the fact that I read it on March 25 was pure synchronicity. I posted too late to participate in the regular Poetry Friday round up, but if you like writing, reading, and/or discussing poetry, there are folks from all over the country that post about poetry every Friday. One blogger will host and give the list of all the blog posts that day. I join in from time to time. To find out who is hosting, and what it is about, just google it.

"Merry" by Shel Silverstein in Where The Sidewalk Ends

No one's hangin' stockin's up,
No one's bakin' pie,
No one's lookin' up to see
A new star in the sky.
No one's talkin' brotherhood,
No one's givin' gifts,
And no one loves a Christmas tree
On March the twenty-fifth.

I love this poem, especially because Christmas around our house tends to be a source of friction. My husband is not a fan of the holiday, nor of the the murdering of trees, as he calls it (he gets the ironic hypocracy that he owns a barbecue restaurant).

I think March the twenty-fifth is a perfect day to talk brotherhood. We need it. There is a lot of sh-t going on in the world right now!

Grill Love

The torrential wind and rain storm finally let up enough for me to brave the grill on Valentine's Day night. I fired up my infrared grill and put some love on for dinner. That's right, heart burgers.

I noticed that my Charbroil Kansas City Rub had a deep reddish orange color, so I mixed it in for flavor and color. Sure, maybe I overdid the heart theme, but it was fun for the kids. (Eric and I are both a little under the weather, so between coughing fits, we decided on a date night next week).

I realized that it's been a few months since I used the gas grill, and I should have seasoned it first with some oil. My burgers stuck a bit, but I managed fine with a little muscle.

Granted, I was out there in the stormy dark, with the flashlight, wiping rain from my serving plate, and picking up various objects that blew over in the yard while the burgers cooked, but it's a good reminder to re-season your grill when time has passed, and seasonally. A grill cover can keep out the rain, but freezing temperatures and severe winter weather mean you have to give your grill some extra love.

Grill love.

Seasoning your grill is simple.

1. After cleaning your grill grates, soak a paper towel in cooking oil and rub grill grates thoroughly.
2. Turn on your burners to high and close the lid. Let the oil "burn on" for about 10-15 minutes.
3. Turn burners off and let the grill cool completely, with the lid on.

If it is a brand new grill, you should do this 2 or 3 times before cooking. For the very first time, I do the above without oil. This way you burn off any chemical residue left on the grill parts first before seasoning it with oil.



Happy Valentine's Day Breakfast

Admittedly, I had something else in mind for my second V-day post. Something grilled. Between the windstorms, typical Seattle downpours, having to work longer than expected on Sunday, and a sick husband, life got in the way.

This breakfast made one of my two kids happy. The other decided he didn't like hearts. Or raisins. He's not sure he likes the whole Valentine's Day thing. At school today, he has to bring a "friendship" valentine to a secret name he drew. He was hoping for a different name, that of his very first crush. How do I explain that sometimes we do things to make some else happy?

I've tried everything I could think of this weekend, including having him pretend he's someone else. He's not buying it, and really, I don't blame him. If it's not from the heart, what is the point?

This is hardly a recipe. You know how to make French toast. I cut out the bread by cutting around a heart candy box. You may use a heart cookie cutter, but you'd miss having to eat the chocolates in the box first. I used Dave's Killer Bread Robust Raisin bread for the toast, and sticky foam to make the heart wand.

Valentine's Day Menu #1: Smoked Rack of Lamb with Wilted Pea Shoots & Blueberry Sauce

Handmade gifts are always more meaningful to me. It's easy to go out and drop some quick cash on a gift, but making something is from the heart and paid for in currency far more precious than money: time.

The same goes for cooking. Eric and I avoid the traditional "go-out" dates like Valentine's Day, Friday night, and brunch (though I do drag him to brunch about once a year). We're even encouraging people to stay home at Smokin' Pete's. Granted, we would prefer that they pick up a Love Combo at our restaurant.

Nothing says I love you like a homemade meal. Especially one that takes time to prepare, like barbecue. Hey! There's an idea. Need some suggestions? I thought you'd never ask. You know your love one's tastes best, so cook his or her favorites, but here is one of two Valentine's Day meals I'll post this weekend.

Grilled and Smoked Rack of Lamb with Pea Shoots & Blueberry Sauce
This one will impress your love. Make it a weekend event and go shopping together at a farmer's market this weekend. If you're interested, read my post about American vs. New Zealand Lamb. I don't know why, but it has always been one of my top read posts.

Ingredients
1 full rack of lamb, uncut
1/2 cup olive oil

3 T Kosher salt and 1 T black pepper
3 T dried mustard
3 T ground oregano

The Greens
2 small bunches pea shoot greens. Find these flavorful greens at farmer's markets. Substitute any hearty green if you can't find them.
Half of a fresh lemon
Salt to taste
Shaved Parmesan

The Sauce
1/2 cup fancy blueberry preserves (with lots of whole blueberries in it)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Fresh cracked pepper
Garnish with fresh golden raspberries (optional)
Serve with roasted fingerling potatoes or other potato dish.

Step-by-Step
1. Make a charcoal fire in half of your grill. I used a kettle Weber.

2. While coals are getting hot, rub lamb rack first with olive oil, then with spice mixture. Let sit out while you get the grill ready.

3. Once coals are red hot, rake to one side, single layer, get grill grate hot. Put whole rack on grill to sear, bone side first, for 3-5 minutes. Flip and sear fat side. Put lid on to minimize flare ups, but keep vents open.

4. Move rack to indirect side. Add a few wood chunks to fire. Close lid, half shut the vents, and cook to medium rare.

5. While meat is cooking, saute cleaned pea shoots. Make sure you've removed the woodier stems. Pea shoots are full of flavor, but can be touch. Saute in a hot pan with olive oil. Salt. Squeeze lemon after greens have wilted. Turn to low and cover for 10 minutes. Serve with shaved Parmesan.

6. Pull lamb when internal meat temperature (be sure to insert into the meaty middle) reads 135 degrees. It will raise to 140 degrees while it rests.

7. While it rests, make a quick sauce of blueberry preserves and balsamic vinegar. Boil down (reduce) for 5 minutes. Add pepper.

8. Cut the lamb and place over the greens. Drizzle the sauce and garnish, if desired, with fresh golden raspberries.

I Heart Barbecue

Just sayin'...I'm working on a V-Day post, but in the meantime, feel free to share this little picture with your barbecue friends.

Two-Parter Apricot Glazed Baby Back Ribs

It's time for some meat, y'all! Enough of my waxing and waning about the New Year. It's a barbecue blog dammit so today I've smoked up some baby backs.

What is different or interesting about these ribs? Why post about them, as opposed to others? In every post I try to use a recipe to teach a technique. It's what I do in the book, so it is what I continue to do here on the blog.

These ribs were smoked with a dry rub the day before. I pulled them to chill in the fridge when they were technically cooked, but needed another hour plus to tender up.

The next day, I put them back on the smoker, indirect heat, for 30-40 minutes, then glazed them once hot and left them for another 40 minutes or so.

This is a great way to prep ribs for a party, or to have ribs on hand for a weekday dinner. Smoke them on the weekend while you are doing house projects, chill, then reheat and add sauce for dinner on Tuesday. I actually think the spice and smoke sink in to the meat better this way.

The rub: Use any simple spice rub you have on hand. I grabbed kosher salt, cumin, chili powder, and a small amount of paprika and tossed my racks in them. Last month I reviewed Charbroil's Basic Rub, and liked it for it's simplicity. If you are going for "wet" or glazed ribs, the rub doesn't need to stand alone, and you don't need a lot of competing flavors with the sauce.

The meat: I used baby back ribs, but spares really do well with this technique. When making ribs for a party, you can easily misjudge how long spare ribs need, and have the rest of the food timing thrown off. By smoking them a day ahead, you have more control of the end time.

I'll be honest...I didn't take off the membrane. I usually do, but the first one was so thin, it kept tearing. I was in a rush to get them in the rub and to make it on time for pick up at my son's pre-school. Know what? It didn't matter.

The equipment: I used my Big Green Egg! She's a beaut, especially on these rainy, colder months. Eggatha keeps her heat like a champ. I only smoked two racks, so no other equipment (rib rack, indirect plate, drip pan) was needed. I made a small charcoal fire in one spot, and place my racks indirect from the fire.

The wood: Cherry wood trimmings from my yard, of course.

The glaze: Now here is where you really can mix it up. I use 50% preserves with 50% barbecue sauce, store bought, or home spun. Heat it up and whisk together. The owner of Ole Ray's Apple Cinnamon Barbeque Sauce sent me a case of his sauce once after he read that I recommended it in Woman's World Magazine. It was a sweet gesture, but I get so many bottles of sauce here and there, my fridge has little else. I wanted to move some of the product, so I used it in my glaze. His sauce is a sweeter, molasses-y sauce that works well in a glaze.

The result: Tender, flavorful ribs...by 6pm on a Tuesday.

January Gathering In...with a side of bacon

I found this cookbook while going through my book things and FINALLY putting it all away. Two years ago in December I finished She-Smoke, turned it in to my editor, and had a baby 29 days later. At this time exactly two years ago, I had a two week old baby in my arms, was just starting to walk after a C-section, and had ten days to proofread the entire book.

I was overwhelmed, to say the least. I pushed through it, with lots of help from my folks and Eric. After that the other part of the work began: the promotion and marketing of the book. Besides creating a website and blog, there is a huge amount of work an author does with the publisher, contacting people for blurbs, making a huge list of media contacts, bloggers, and friends to help launch the book, and lining up bookstore events and interviews.

In the flurry of it all, I never got back to my desk mess from the book. My pile of research, files, journals, notes, galleys...everything has remained in an overflowing box on my desk ever since.

It's a small desk. The book mess has been the elephant in the room I've ignored for too long. So this week I decided to tackle it, decide what to keep, what to chuck, and put it away in a labeled box. Some day in the future I'll go through the same box, smile, laugh, and then get rid of most of it, but I pared down what I could for now.

I've been doing a lot of sorting, boxing, throwing out, fixing... a friend recently called it gathering in. January is the perfect month for gathering inward and finding a quiet rythm. I like to let go of things in January, clearing out with the old, the papers and stuff that weigh you down, and making room for new things, new possibilities.

It's much different than spring cleaning. Spring cleaning is full of energy and focused on opening up, letting the sunshine fill all the winter cracks, shaking the stagnant air and dust out! Out! Out!

I think of January as more of a subtle shifting of energy to bring oneself back to oneself.

In terms of cooking, I've made pans and pans of lasagna lately. I love the layers, the blending of different flavors, until they are all bubbling together happily.

I've also baked chicken, simmered stews, and kneaded bready things like pizza. Have I taken a photo, or written down a recipe? Not one. This isn't food for show; it's food for one's family and for one's inards. It's nothing fancy, nothing you don't already do.

Instead, I'll leave you with a few tips from this booklet's Master Menus for Winter Meals page.

"For a taste tempter, season cream of tomato soup with peanut butter. Garnish with bits of cooked bacon and serve with toasted bread sticks."

"Chopped crisp bacon and lemon or onion juice added to spinach enhances it's flavor."

"For a special perfection salad to serve with beef short-ribs, add pineapple cubes to gelatin and cabbage just before molding."

"As a pleasant meat loaf variation, have two or three frankfurters ground with beef and pork for loaf. Or lay bacon slices over the top for added flavor."

What comes around, goes around, eh? The bacon craze is nothing new. Maybe this year will be all about gelatin and peanut butter.

What about you? Have you been gathering in, and if so, how so?

A Not List for the New Year

Today I finally finished baby proofing the upstairs. There is nothing like crossing off something from the "Big List of All Things", eh? Of course my children are two and five, but if someone visits with a crawling baby, boy oh boy, that baby is safe upstairs.

I hope my family doesn't mind pureed foods, because I am now ready for the next thing on the list: canning homemade organic baby food.

Maybe I missed the boat on that one. Besides, the first child hated (still does) pureed foods, and the second went from rice cereal to gumming steak in mere months. I cooked a few yams, stewed some apples, so I think that counts.

I have multiple lists swirling in my brain at all times. I think most women do, but for some of us, it is almost an affliction. Besides the Big List of All Things, there is the immediate list. The immediate list is the one that makes me feel like an insane robot left alone on a planet for centuries (the anti-Wall-E, if you will).

I have this thing about wasting no steps. It's something that stuck from my waitress days: Never return to the kitchen empty handed. Bring hot food out, clear dirty dishes back. Only now, instead of dishes, it's all housework, and I don't get tipped. As I walk down the hall I fish out the puzzle piece from my pocket that I picked up earlier and, in a single motion, swing open the toy cupboard, shoot it like a basket ball into the puzzle shelf, and re-latch the cupboard as I go.

It sounds efficient and mom-like, right? But today I needed to pee. I went to the bathroom and found the toilet less than pleasing. I have a five year old boy, need I say more? So I cleaned it first. I keep a stack of what I call "pee rags" in the cupboard handy. Then I took the rag, along with the pile of clothes "someone" left on the bathroom floor, to the adjacent laundry room.

Here's the problem. A normal person would just go pee first. I on the other hand, upon finding myself in the laundry room, felt the urge to "swap out the laundry" i.e., put a load in the dryer, and start a new load in the washer, before I returned, clean towels in hand, to the bathroom. No wasted steps, see? By the time I'd loaded the washer though, I'd forgotten my original bodily need. The moment I heard the Whoosh of the washer, though, I remembered that I really had to go.

I made it, and as I had more than a few moments to reflect, I decided that this immediate list, and the Big List of All Things, both needed to chill.

My husband would laugh if he read that last sentence. He would say, "You can't do it," not in a mean way, but as a way to challenge me. This, from the man that says every New Year, "I resolve to not make any New Year's resolutions," and thinks it's funny. Every year. He and I have a difference of opinion of what a "day off" means, but the truth is, I need to learn how to do nothing. When you are travelling at light speed, you miss the rainbows.

So instead of New Year's Resolutions, I'm making a Not List.

#1 is an easy one: I am not going to feel pressured "as an author" to twitter or facebook. If I want to say something or respond to someone, I will, but I haven't found any of this glorious social media to have an impact on my supposed "platform" or to make many meaningful connections. A few, sure, but mostly it takes away time I need for writing, sleeping, or relaxing, all things that are better for my health and well being than tweeting about brisket.

#2  I am not going to nurse my daughter for much longer. That is a tough one for me, but it's disturbing my sleep too much. It hit me on the night of her second birthday this week (yeah, I'm one of those la leche mamas). While she was nursing, she paused, and with the boobie still in her mouth said, "Back kick." Assuming I heard wrong, I repeated, "Back kick?" She then nodded and proceeded to show me her back kick.

Apparently, while nursing, she was mulling over how to perfect her Tae Kwon Do. While I say 'Kudos to you, my martial arts baby', it does make it perfectly clear that nursing is no longer food, nor even comfort at this point: it's a coffee break, hold the coffee, stet the milk.

#3 I am not going to post on this blog more than once a week. Ooh. Another tough one. In part because I feel like I have so many things I want to post about, and also because "they" always say that you must post at least three times a week, if not five, to have a successful blog. I'm not sure how "success" is measured, but I do know that I have other projects I want to put energy into, and would rather make one good post each week and have fun with it.

#4 I can't say I am not going to make lists. I'd need years of therapy to throw out my legal pad, but I am going to mellow out on both the immediate list and the Big List of All Things. I probably should start by changing the name of the Big List.

I know, that last one wasn't a "Not". In fact I've sat here for 15 minutes and everything I tried to write was an "I am" instead of an "I'm not". The moment I say no to a few things, a world of possibilities opens. Think of what I can accomplish when I master doing nothing?

What do you say, are you with me? What's on your Not List this year?

A Big Fat Ribeye

The first thing I tried from my big box of Charbroil goodies, was their "Basic Rub" on a big fat ribeye steak. Why a steak? Let me tell you, honey. The rain in the past week was torrential. I know you might think that Seattlelites are used to rainy days, right? But downpours with wind storms and flooded basements aren't our usual cup of rainwater. Usually it's more of a constant drizzle, or as I like to think, a refreshing mist that pairs well with coffee.

Not last week. Did you notice the lack of posts? That was because we were busy shopvac-ing hundreds of gallons of water out of our basement, pulling up carpet pad, and moving fans around the rooms.

There were a few breaks in the flood, and that's when I ran out to buy some steaks for the grill.

It was only fitting that we grilled them on the Charbroil infrared.

I went light on the rub, in part because the first ingredient was salt. I should have used more, but instead sprinkled a little afterwards.

The result? Delicious. The rosemary in the rub is finely chopped, so you don't get bits of herb in your teeth (I hate that). The rub wasn't too salty, nor was there any one flavor that stood out too much. It wasn't too spicy. It was, well, basic, and basic is all I want on a steak. I want to taste the meat cooked over a flame.

My only critique thus far is that the packaging is a little plain. We get a little wild in barbecueville with our names, puns, and graphics. The Charbroil line is understated. Nothing is named "Hot Mama's Tongues of Fire" or "Billy Bob's Big Butt Rub", but I'll forgive the plain Janeness.

Merry Christmas from Charbroil

I love mail. Especially boxes or thick bubble envelopes. Usually that means a book I've ordered has arrived. But the other day a big box arrived at my office. I picked it up and shook it a little.

"I wonder what it could be?" I said to my catering manager.

"Why don't you just open it?" He said, dryly, handing me a box cutter. Clearly I am easily thrilled. I don't get out much, unless it involves a bouncy house or monkey bars.

Out of the blue, the folks at Charbroil sent me a HUGE box of barbecue goodies - spice rubs, marinades, sauces, and even a bag o' brine. 

I've already tried out a few things. I'll post them over the next month. The very first thing I did was sprinkle a little of that "Taste of Sizzle" basic rub on a big juicy steak, then I threw it on the ol' infrared grill.

I'll show you those pics next. I'll also not open every single thing so we can have a little giveaway in a bit.

Thank you, Charbroil! I needed a surprise, truly. Merry BBQ Christmas to you to.

Soup Week Round-Up. Recipes from friends

The minute I posted about Soup Week on facebook, a cavalcade of responses came in. Seems like everyone was making soup. Italian Bread Soup, Butternut Squash Soup, Matzoh Ball Soup and so many others. I decided to post a few recipes from friends as my final post for Soup Week.

Both these women are from the old neighborhood. One rode trikes with me, the other was my neighbor. And both of these women know a thing or two about cooking. Neither take short cuts in their recipes here, and the extra time to make stock from scratch, as well as the noodles or matzohs, make them truly special.

Cheryl shares her homemade Chicken Noodle Soup with hand made noodles on her own blog. The hand made noodles look amazing and easy. I like her suggestion to try it with grilled chicken too!

Sara shares her homemade Matzoh Ball Soup recipe here. She made it during Hanukkah, but it reminds me to make this soup at other times. I love Matzoh balls! Her picture is above. Here is her recipe, adapted from “Grandma Florrie’s Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls”, from the New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker and Clara Silverstein.

Sara Webster – Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls


Matzo Balls

7 eggs separated
1 tbsp kosher salt divided
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 ¾ cups matzo meal
2 ½ tbsp club soda (see notes)
2 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

Soup

One whole chicken (6 lbs) -or- 3 lbs of chicken thighs*
1 beef bone (or veal bone)
2 onions – yellow or sweet – pealed and diced
4 ribs celery diced
10 carrots peeled and sliced
12 cups water plus additional as needed
1 large sweet potato peeled and diced
2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley

For Matzo Balls – fill an 8 quart pot three quarters of the way with salted water or chicken stock (I used water). Bring to boil.

Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and add a pinch of salt. Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In separate bowl mix together the egg yolks, salt, oil, matzo meal, club soda, onion powder and parsley. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Using your hands roll the batter into walnut-size pieces. Drop the matzo balls in the water and cover the pot. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 35 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. 12-15 matzo balls.
For Soup
In large stockpot combine boil the chicken, beef (or veal bone), onions, celery, and carrots. Add the water and salt. Bring to boil over medium high heat. Remove any foam that rises to the surface using slotted spoon or strainer. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 2-4 hours. If the liquid becomes too concentrated, add more water during the cooking time. Add the sweet potatoes and parsley. Simmer for additional 45 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove chicken and beef soup bone (discard). Pull skin of chicken and remove chicken meat (as much as you can) – toss carcass and place chicken meat back into the soup. Serve soup with matzo balls floating on top.


Notes: Original Recipe called for 3 lbs of chicken thighs, I used a whole chicken. Thighs have more flavor, but I like working with whole chickens – so I’ve adopted that change. Original recipe cooked for nearly five hours – I was able to do in about 2.5 hours and still very good. I also skipped the club soda step the second time I made it and worked fine. Club soda will make the matzo balls very light and they float better but I didn’t notice this as problem by omitting the soda.

Thank you, friends. And if you readers still need "more soup for you", here are some of my past soup posts to try.

Smoked Turkey Soup

Chicken Soup with Rice (is nice)

If all else fails, throw it into a pot and stir. Happy soup making everyone!

Quick Chili with Pulled Pork, Smoked Peppers & Black Beans

Quick Chili is practically an oxymoron, but I like to keep ingredients on hand to whip up a batch on demand if need be. True chili should be cooked slow, letting all the flavors of the spices infuse into the meat and beans.

Like barbecue, chili fires a passion in people that can beat the heat in the chili pot itself. Some swear no bean should enter the pot. Others declare beef to be the only meat allowed. Everyone has their own idea of what spices and flavors make the best batch.

This chili is an excellent cheater chili. It's not what you'll enter into the chili cook-off, but it's a great recipe for when you think, "Mmm. Chili sounds good," at 4pm, instead of 10am.

Of course, your larder may not contain the same things as mine. I almost always have the following ready to go:

Leftover smoked pulled pork, in freezer. Leftover brisket or other meats work well too.

Smoked peppers (or whole dried). We smoke a mix of habaneros, poblanos and jalepenos at Smokin' Pete's BBQ for our barbecue sauce. Smoking the peppers gives them another boost of flavor, while retaining their natural flavors. Good quality chilis are the most important part of creating the flavor base.

Canned beans. Black beans, kidney, or navy. Beans are the biggest time constraint with chili and the best way to cheat when time won't allow an all day affair.

Everything else is an accessory to the chili pot. As long as you have the power trio above, you can make this quick chili. Even though I'd have a hard time making chili without cumin and Mexican oregano, I'm of the opinion that chili can be made with just about any combination of spices.

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 T ground cumin
2 T smoked or dried chilis, preferrably ground by hand, in mortar and pestil or coffee grinder
2 cloves garlic
2 T Mexican oregano
1 T kosher salt
1 tsp ground ginger (optional)
1 tsp tumeric (optional)
12 oz pulled pork
1-2 cans black beans (or kidney)
1 cup stock
1 small can of diced green chilis
1/4 cup tomato paste
Grated cheese (optional)

Step-by-Step
1. Sautee onion in olive oil. Add spices and stir until onion cooks nearly clear.
2. Add pulled pork, beans and green chilis. Stir until ingredients incorporated. Turn down to medium low.
3. Add stock and tomato paste and simmer for 30 minutes or more.
4. Serve with grated cheese or whatever else you like with your chili.

Brisket Vegetable Soup

This simple soup can be made with meat of your choice. I happen to have left over brisket in the fridge, and love the full flavor a little beef can bring to a vegetable soup. I like to keep store bought chicken and/or vegetable stock in the coffers so that I can always make a quick soup.

With stock from scratch you can infuse more layers of flavor, but this soup tasted like it had simmered for hours after only 730 minutes.

Ingredients

3 cups chicken broth or stock

3 cups water

2-3 celery stocks, sliced fairly thin

1 cup sliced carrots

3 cloves garlic

1 cup other vegetables in the fridge, chopped. Broccoli stems are nice for soups. They have more flavor than the crowns, and often get left behind to wither in the "crisper".

3 cloves garlic

Herbs of your choice

Kosher salt to taste

1 cup chopped leftover brisket. This particular brisket had a little sauce on it, which added a flavor layer. Use a little more tomato paste if your meat is unsauced.

Tomato paste - about 4 tablespoons.

Step-by-step

1. Chop vegetables. Pour water and stock or broth into pot and turn up to medium-high.

2. Add celery and carrots. Turn down so that the soup is just under boiling.

3. After 10 minutes or so, add other vegetables that may take less time, salt, herbs, and garlic. Let simmer.

4. Prep the brisket. Using leftover barbecue meats in soups is wonderful, but you need to trim off the visible fat when cold. For the brisket, I originally trimmed it cold, then made the chopped brisket with sauce. Once it cooled, I removed any visible fat. After I put the leftovers in the soup, I skimmed again for oil on the surface (made me feel like a BP worker).

5. Add brisket and tomato paste. Simmer until ready.

Colorful Winter Beet Soup

This soup was fun to make with the kids. They liked playing with the colorful juices and making beet prints on paper. I left the beets fairly large and chunky. You may prefer yours with a finer chop, or even pureed at the end and served with a dollop of sour cream.

Fine. More for me. I love beets. I'd never thought of using the beet greens, though, until I had our Russian neighbor's beet soup. The beet greens add so much flavor, I'll never chuck them in the compost bin again. Using the many colors of organic beets available this time of year, this soup is a visual, as well as tasty feast.

Ingredients

1 onion

6-8 beets, red, orange and yellow

2 T dried thyme

1 T ground ginger

Chopped tops (beet greens), thick stems removed

3 cups vegetable stock, 2 cups water

Fresh dill ( a few large stems that you won't eat, plus some finely chopped sprigs)

Salt and pepper as you go.

Step-by-Step

Sautee chopped onion in olive oil. Add sliced beets and stir in dried herbs. Add in vegetable stock and water and bring to a boil. After 5 minutes, turn down to low. Let simmer until beets are al dente. Add in fresh dill and finely chopped beet greens. Cook for another 30 minutes or so. Salt and pepper to taste along the way.

Get ready for...Soup Week

I've decided to make this soup week. I could tell you it is because soup simmers one's soul in the winter, melting the blues from the inside out, (or that eating soup apparently makes you write syrupy prose), but the real reason I'm dedicating the week to hearty broths is because of last week: I was stuck in the house for three days straight with two sick kids.

Did you notice? No posts last week. I was going to do that cheat thing you can do with blogs and type in a different day for "publish" than when I actually did, but then I thought, why? This is my life. It's full of interruptions, and often, the interruptions are better than what I was supposed to be doing. 

I will say this, though, taking care of kids all day is way more work than going to work. At work, I can make my list, coffee in hand, and then proceed to get the work done. How I love to cross things off with a big thick Sharpie, or a fancy Pilot pen.

With kids the satisfaction has to come from the process. Nothing gets crossed off. In fact, you find yourself doing the same task over and over again. If I had a dollar for every pen without a cap I picked up off the floor...

After awhile, you start coming up with projects that take a lot of time. Like soup.
I was determined not to make sick fest a video fest. They still watched plenty of movies (I'm no saint), but we also made dozens of glittery Christmas ornaments, decorated the tree, read piles of books, did and undid stacks of puzzles, powered through our teetering cupboard of games, and my son even had me re-do the chore list so he could pick up toys for a sticker (I'm still flummoxed and tickled by that one).

If I've painted too lovely a picture, I also let the kids set "traps" all over the house, said "Sure!" when they wanted to chop up ice and chalk on the fireplace, and on the longest day, barricaded myself in the office armed with a glass of wine to check e-mail. But that was day three. You understand, right?

So I'll share a few soups this week. Easy soups. Soups you can make with a 1 and 5 year old. Immune system boosting soups to help barricade your body from the germs. And soups to remind you that giggles and togetherness and wonder are all far more satisfying than crossing off your To Do list.

What is simmering on your stove?